Seal-lock



E. MEISE.

SEAL LOCK.

Patented Jan. 8, 1889-.

(No Model.)

Unirse @rares Parnnr @erica EDUARD MEISE, (')F PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SEAL=LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,792, dated January 8, 1889.

Application filed September 12, 1888. Serial No. 285,2l7. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDUAR'D MEME, a resi dent of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seal-Locks5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to seal-locks for freightcars, mail-boxes, express-boxes, &c., the pres- I ent invention relating.;l to certain iinprovements upon the seal -lock described and claimed in Letters Patent grantei'l to me April 3, 1888, No. 390,446. The sealflock described in said paient consists, generally si ated, in a bow, which is adapted to be passed through the has'p of the look, and a seal-plate connect ing the ends of the bow, and so closing it, and a locking apparatus .in one arm of the bow engaging with the seal-plate and holdin it in place, the locking apparatus described in said patent consisting, generally stated, in a rotating block iitting into the end of the arm of the bow and having a cam-face formed thereon; a cylindrical pin which engages with the cam-face and the bearing for said block and permits the turning of the block in one direction, but prevents its rotation in another, this block having a locking-bm thereon which comes in contact with a stop-lug on the seal.- plate. In said seal-look, as described and shown in said patent, the seal-plate was forked at each end, one forked end passing into grooves in one arm and the other forked end en gagin g with the lookin g apparatus, and the seal-plate being held so that its face was downward, and requiring the raising of the look to examine the seal; and where this sealplate carried certain marks showing the place of sealing or destination of the car, as was desirable, mueh time was required for the inspection of the lock, it being necessary to turn lu p the bow to examine the sealing-plate. In the manufacture ol' the lock, as described in said patent, certain difficulties were also found, the principal one being that in making the body of the lock of east metal the corrugated or roughened bearing could not well be made in the body of the bow or n the eX- tension thereof, as shown in said patent, as this part of the apparatus required careful workmanship.

The principal objects of my invention are to overcome these objections to the use of the seal-lock by so constructing it as to always expose the .face of the sealing-plate while the look is hanging in the ordinary perpendicular position, and by providing means for securing a separate sleeve within the body of the bow; and to these ends my invention consists in improvements hereinafter particularly set forth and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and `use my invention, l. will describe the same more fully, referriu to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fignre l isa face view of my improved lock, showing it sealed. Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof on the line .r Qc, Fig. l, showing the sealing-plate in position for sealing and the locking-block turned in proper position to receive the plate. 3 is a vertical section of my improved look. Figs. a and 5 are views of parts of the looking apparatus. Fig. 6 is a view of the sealing-plate. Fig. 7 is a view of the inspection-tag employed with the lock, and Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross-section of the looking apparatus.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts ineach.

The body portion or bow o. of my improved lock is preferably formed of cast-iron of proper quality, though it may also be formed of cast-steel, if so desired, it being found, however, that a body of proper strength can be obtained when it is formed of cast-iron. The body a has in one arm, o, thereof a longitudinal slot, d, for the reception of the lip of the sealing-plate, which fits into this slot d, as hereinafter described, the slot cl extending in the direction of the bow, so that the seal-plate is held in the same line and its faceis exposed when the body is hung in the ordinary perpendicular position, as hereinafter described.

The arm c carries the locking apparatus, which fits into the socket e cast' therein, this socket e extending from one side or face of the arm c inwardly toward the other face thereof, but the wall e', closing the base of the socket, so preventing access to the locking apparatus from this end thereof. The arm c may also have a ring, c', by means of which the chain c2, connecting the body ay to the car, engages with the lock.

Fitting within the socket e of the lock ,is the IOO sleeve f, forming the bearing of the locking-` block g, this sleeve being preferably formed ot' steel and having' the rou ghened or corrugated' bearing or inner surtacdf, with which the locking-block g engages. The locking-block g has the lock-bar 7i', the collar zi below the bar, the cam face or faces 7u, and shoulder or shoulders Z, and at the other end thereo't' the threaded stud m. The body portion of the locking-block [its within the corrugated bearing f of the sleevef,the collar yi fitting against the upper end of said sleeve and being of the same diameter, while the washer n screws upon the threaded stud m and secures the block within the sleeve, the washer a being of the same diameter as the collar i and titting against the sleeve f. The depth ot' the socket e in the arm c is. equal to the length of the sleeve f and `thickness of the collar and washer n, so that these parts lit neatly within the socket. ln the sleeve f is formed a longitudinal key-groovep, and a like groove, 19', is formed in the side ot' the socket c, the key 0 fitting in said grooves and extending into the sleeve f, nearly through the wall thereof, is a seat, fr, which corresponds in position to a rivet-hole extending through the wall ot the socket e and receiving a rivet, r.'

In order to secure the locking apparatus in position in the arm c, the sleeve fis tirst placed over the locking-block g and the cylindrical pins dropped into place therein7 so as to engage with the cam-faces ot' the lockingblock, and the washer '1t is then screwed on the stud m, and so seeurin g the said lockingblock and sleeve together, and, it desired, the end of the stud m may be spread to hold the washer in place. The key o, correspon din gin length to that of the sleeve f, is then placed in the groove p ol' the sleeve, and the sleeve slipped into the socket e of the arm c, the key 0 fitting into the groove p formed for it in the socket e, and so preventing' the rotation of the sleeve within the socket7 while as the collar t'. extends over one-half of the key 0, this key is held securely in placeby said collar. The rivet fr is then driven through the arm c and into the seat i', formed in the sleeve f, so securing the sleeve and the locking parts connected therewith from bein withdrawn from the socket, and this rivet can then be tiled oftl to prevent its being withdrawn, the locking apparatus being thus secured within the cast-metal body ot' the lock b y means of these two rivets, the rivet/r holding the sleeve within the socket and the key o preventing its rotation therein, while in so securing the sleeve within the socket the locking apparatus is also held in place thereby. The sealplate s is generally formed ot' a frangible material-cast-iron being preferably employed for the purpose-an d has at one end thereof the lip s and at the other end the fork s2, while :formed at the proper place thereon is the stop-lug t, against which the locking-bar h ot' the locking apparatus is turned. This seal-plate is secured in place by slipping the lip s into the slot d of the arm Z), and then dropping the forked end s2 over the locking-bar 7L ot the locking apparatus and turning the locking-block and its locking-bar a quarter ot' a turn, when said bar will strike against the stop-lug, and as the cylindrical pinsj prevent the turning b'ack ot' the locking-bar and the ends ot the lockingbar extend over the Vforked end of the sealplate, it is evident that the seal-plate is locked in position, and that it cannot be removed, nor thebow removed troni the hasp, except by breaking the plate. The seal-plate is thus held with its tace exposed-that is, in such position that. when the bow is hanging in the hasp in. the ordinary vertical position, the numbers or letters on the seal-plate can be easily read from a distance, and the necessity of turn ing up the lock to examine the marks on the seal-plate is overcome, this being' accomplished by the improved. construction ot' the lockavhich overcomes the necessity of the locking-bar extending out `from the end of the bow. i

As it desirable to have means for .recording the inspection to which the car is subjected in its passage from the place where it is sealed to its destination, l provide the inspection-tag u, which can be slipped over the arm b of the bow or lock-body a previous to the sealing of the car, the seal s' secnrin this inspection-tag in place. This tag is toi-med of lead, leather, or other suitable material, which can either be impressed or punctured by the recording-instrunients, and which is not liable to injury by exposure to the weather, and, as the ear is inspected at the different points in its route from the place ot' its sealing to it-s destination, themarks otl the inspection may be recorded upon this tag either by iinpressing them into itsuch as where the lead tag is employed-or by puncturing the tagsuch as where leather is employed--and the car can thus be regularly examined and a record oi' the inspectionspreserved by means et this tag.

When my improved seal-lock is in use, after closing the car-door and placing the hinge-plate of the hasp-lock over the hasp, the free arm b of the lock-body a is slipped through .the hasp and the inspection-tag u slipped over said arm, and the seal-plate s secured in place, the lip s entered within seat d otl the free arm b, and the fork s2 fitting on each side ot' the locking-bar 7L, and the locking-bar being then turned until it strikes against the stop-lug t. As the locking-bar is turned, the cylindrical pins 'j of the locking apparatus are carried along by the shoulders Z; but itl it is attempted to turn the lockingbar in the opposite direction these cylindrical pins are carried back by the corrugated or roughened surface of the bearing f and press against the cam-tace o1' the rotating block g, and so prevent the turning back ot' the locking-bar 7L.

Thile the car is in transit the presence of TOO IIO

IZO

the seal-plate, the flat surface of which is eX- posed so that it can be easily seen, shows that the car has not been tampered with but in case any person has broken the seal in order to obtain access to the car this at once becomes evident by the absence ot the sealplate.

The ear sealed as above described can be carried from one to another place and properly inspected at different points while in transit, and the inspection thereof recorded on the inspection-tag, so that a proper record of the passage of the car is preserved.

That I claim asn'iyinventiou, and desire io secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In seal-locks, the combin ation of the bow having` in one arm thereof' a slot extemling longitudinally off the arm, and havii'igloeking apparatus in the other arm provided with a locking-bar extending out on the side of said arm, and a seal-plate having one end fitting into said slot and the other end engaging with said locking-bar, so that the face ol the seal-plate is exposed when the lock ishanging in a perpeinilicular position, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In seal-locks, the combination, with the bow or body a, having the socket e in one arm thereof, of the sleeve f, the rotating block g, litt-.ing within said sleeve, and the washer n, holding the block within the sleeve, and means for securing the sleeve within the socket, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

l. In seal-locks, the combination, with the body or bow a, having the socket e, provided with a keyway, p', of the sleeve j', having the corresponding keyway j), the key o, the ron tating block having the collar t' extending over said sleeve and key, and the washer fn, engaging with said block, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

l. In seal-locks, the combination, with a bow-shaped body and a seal-plate closing the ends ol' said bow and locking apparatus to Vitnesses;

J. N. COOKE, JAMES I. KAY. 

